A large meal without a misstep

Supper-time, and we wanted the best of Mersin. A quick call to Murat, the hometown lad, and we had our destination, Akdeniz Restaurant. Akdeniz is the name for the Mediterranean Sea in Turkish so we knew there'd be a little seafood in our future.

The meal started a little strangely. We were eight or so, a larger group, and so there was the usual commotion of getting settled. Then, however, the food just started to come out. No one could remember having ordered anything, but it all looked good.

One starter was a rocket and tomato salad with pomegranate vinaigrette. Holy cow, was this tasty. Something about the dressing was so addictive. That and the vegetables were, as you'd expect, at the height of freshness.

We also got some hard cheese and walnuts, which went great with the bread on offer. Speaking of the bread...

This place had a few tricks up its sleeve. This sesame-crusted flatbread was about six-feet long. That must be some custom oven they're operating inside. It was fresh and perfectly delicious.

At this point, while we were enjoying everything we were eating, we asked for the menu so we could make sure not to miss those things we were dying to have.

The first spread at our table was hummus with pastrami, a common combination in these parts. It was served warm, fresh out of the oven. It was quite tasty, especially when mixed. I am starting to think that hummus is defined a bit differently in Turkey, with lots of tahini and only a dash of olive oil. So, as long as I remind myself not to compare it directly to cold, olive oil-heavy variations that I love, this tastes great!

The other spread was muamara with puffy sesame bread. This was fantastic. The red peppers in the muamara really shone through. They also provided a wonderful little kick that would sometimes surprise me right at the end of the bite.

Then the meat began. We got a bunch of mini lahmacuns. These were covered with minced meat and were quite tasty, especially when dipped in the yogurt sauce on the table.

Oh, did I mention yogurt? There was also a yogurt kebap. This creation had small patties of minced lamb on top of a yogurt mixture that also had croutons of flatbread and eggplant hidden underneath. Oh, and some grilled vegetables around the edge. Excellent, just excellent, with the best bite being the one that got all the flavors together.

Next was the Akdeniz version of the adana kebap. This was a very good version that didn't quite reach the heights of the one at the hotel.

Very similar looking was the beyti kebap. This minced meat dish is stuffed with garlic instead of red peppers, so the spicing turns out to be very different. This was a great version, lots of garlic to the bite.

The final meat dish was little lamb chops. Wow were these good. The meat near the bone, well, there's nothing like nicely cooked meat near the bone. Such a reserve of flavor!

With all that under our belts, the "akdeniz" name came true to form with a whole grilled sea bass. Apparently it was sea bass season while we were in town, as that's what everyone recommended all the time. After this fish I can see why. It was meaty but still light, grilled but still tender. With a little citrus it was delightful.

We ended our meal the Turkish way, with a plate of freshly cut fruit. In addition to the watermelon, grapes and cherries, there were also excellent young apricots, sour plums, and cassava melon. Refreshing!

After the meal I wandered inside and spotted the cold mezes on display. I love it when restaurants do this because then it becomes so much easier to learn about the local cuisine. Among the mix I spotted a herb or vegetable I had not seen before.

I believe this was pickled sea beans. They had quite a little punch to each bite, both from the sour plant and from the pickling. Whoa.

Thanks to Murat for the recommendation!

Right at the end of the meal, a balloon man came strolling down the street. You can guess how excited Sahana was to see him!